OFF BHaH HitR Likes Speed

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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It's been said here before by Uncleal and Hellshade and others, but I thought it should be repeated again for the benefit of the newcomers. OFF likes speed, actually it demands it. Far more than memory, speed is the determining factor on how well your system will push this fantastic sim. I tested this yet again last night while doing some tweaking on my 9800GTX+ vid card, and it is amazing how much you can affect the graphics quality and smoothness of OFF by playing around with the numbers.

 

Let me start by outlining, (again), my system specs:

 

CPU: Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0ghz Wolfdale 6mb 1333fsb 45nm with Arctic Cooler, (OC'd to 3.90)

Memory: 8gb DDR2 PC2-6400 800mhz, (OC'd to 890 with volts set at 2.1)

Mobo: ASUS P5QL Pro

Hard Drive: 2 Western Digital 640 GB Caviar Black SATA

Opti Drive: LG 22X DVD+/RW Dual Layer SATA Rewrite

Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512mb

PS: Diablo 900 Watt

Windows XP Pro 64-bit OS

LG 22" flat screen LCD monitor

Three large case fans

 

 

I currently have my card speeds bumped to the following: core clock 820, shader clock 2040, memory clock 1275, (with the fan at 60%). I can fly in a large dogfight on a sunny day over a busy part of the front, with sliders at 5-4-4-5-5, and it is smooth as silk. But, if I decrease memory clock to say 1225, I will start to see those telltale lines in the trees down at ground level, minor cloud and tree popping at the edges of the screen, and TrackIR starts to get just a bit ragged on very rapid scanning. It is amazing how much even that little drop in speed will affect the performance and quality of OFF.

 

So again, just to stress the point, SPEED IS IMPORTANT TO OFF.

 

We now return you to our regularly scheduled topics.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

 

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[DukeIronHand 8]

"...I will start to see those telltale lines in the trees down at ground level,"

 

RAF_Louvert - what is meant by the above?

 

Edit: Geesh...spelling...I gotta get glasses

Edited June 1, 2011 by DukeIronHand

[Olham 164]

Thanks for the reminder, Lou.

I have posted a video yesterday, and it has - during very quick head movements (TrackIR) -

those jaggies at the outer edges. I will check, if I can make my ATI HD4870 a little faster.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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You are more than welcome Olham. And yes, those infamous white jaggies are another speed-related issue.

 

To answer your question Duke: When OFF is over-taxing my set-up, (and IIRC others have noted this in the past as well with their set-ups), I will see pencil-thin white lines running veritcally through the individual trees, when down at or near ground level. What appears to be happening is that one or more of the tree model segments is not filling in, (because the system cannot keep up with the demands of the sim). The only way to make this graphics glitch go away is to either lower the appropriate sliders or push up the system speeds.

 

Hope this answers your question Duke.

 

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[Olham 164]

You didn't mention CPU speed yet, Lou ?

I made the experience after upgrading mobo and CPU, that everything runs smoother

at higher graphic settings - although I did not change the graphic card.

Edited June 1, 2011 by Olham

[DukeIronHand 8]

Hope this answers your question Duke.

 

Yes it does exactly.

 

I have spent many a moment goofing with graphics settings trying to make them go away when they appear.

 

I will have to pay more attention when I do get them (i.e., the circumstances at the moment) because sometimes they are there and sometimes not.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Duke, glad that cleared it up for you Sir. Good luck chasing down that little bit of hinkyness.

 

 

 

Olham, on 01 June 2011 - 07:22:17 AM, said:

 

You didn't mention CPU speed yet, Lou ?

I made the experience after upgrading mobo and CPU, that everything runs smoother

at higher graphic settings - although I did not change the graphic card.

 

Actually I did Olham, in my system specs. CPU: Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0ghz Wolfdale 6mb 1333fsb 45nm with Arctic Cooler, (OC'd to 3.90)

 

I have also noticed that card speed seems to have more of an impact than CPU speed.

 

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[JFM 18]

I wish I understood any of this. I have those clock settings with my card (AMD Radeon HD 6900 2GB) but no idea what they do. I was afraid to mess with them because of 1. my ignorance and 2. inadvertently causing a China Syndrome in my comp.

[Olham 164]

JFM, you could check, if your graphic card offers a "tune-up test" like mine does.

It will then auto-detect the max. speed for all settings. That would be a safe solution I think.

In my ATI Catalyst Control Center, that is under "Performance" > "AMD Overdrive"

there is a button "Auto Tune".

[Olham 164]

PS: you may have to unlock the lock first. You'll get a warning message not to do things

you don't know etc., but you can do the "Auto-Tune".

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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For those with nVidia cards you can also load up RivaTuner, which is an outstanding, (and free), vid card tweaker program that has been around for a long time, is well-proven, and constantly updated. Download link here:

 

RivaTuner

 

And you can Google your card info and add something like "overclocking limits" and you should find numerous tech forums discussing your very card and how best to maximize it.

 

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[almccoyjr 7]

A "general" rule of thumb regarding performance: A slow cpu paired with a fast gpu will not give great results when overclocking the gpu. A fast cpu paired with a slow gpu will produce better results when overclocking the gpu. Also, keep in mind the type of vc you have and the pci-e spec of the board. An "older" gpu will be limited by it's headroom on a 2.0 board. A newer gpu, 2.0, will not be able to utilize the overall design efficiency it's capable of due to the limits placed on the older pci-e port, but will yield some significant improvements because it will not be limited by it's lack of physical headroom as an older card is.

 

Speaking strictly about Nvidia cards, I've found that a very mild oc of the core coupled with an aggressive oc of the vram while trying to maintain as low a voltage increase as possible yields the best results.

 

With 8gb of DDR2-6400, lower latency is better than higher clock speeds which often require an increase in voltage which generates a good deal of localized heat on the board. DDR3 ram is just the opposite, depending on the board. Higher speeds over lower latency yield better results.

 

plug_nickel

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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A man who knows of what he speaks. Thank you for posting that very useful bit of information Al.

 

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[almccoyjr 7]

Hey R_L

 

Ain't it a hoot to run the sim at those levels on an "old codger" system!

 

My specs: CPU: Core 2 Duo X6800 @ 3.47, fsb 1066 - stock voltage, CM Hyper 212+ single fan

Mobo: Evga 680i-SLI, socket LGA 775

Memory: G.Skill 8gb DDR2-6400 @ 4-3-4-3-2T - stock voltage

V.C: Evga GTX 260/216 - stock settings/voltage @ 576-1242-999

S.C: Onboard sound - Realtek

HHD 1: WD Raptor 600gb with OFF placed on first track

HHD 2: WD Black Caviar 1tb with 8gb page file placed on first track

Case: CM HAF932

Mon: Sony GDM-900FW 24" flat panel glass @ 1920x1200 75hz

PSU: Zalman 850 (best efficiency at room temp for the money when on sale)

 

Running OFF-HItR @ 5-5-4-5-5. I use terrain to navigate and clouds for both defense/offense

 

Still using Alacrity because W7_ULT 64 leaks memory like a sieve and consumes resources and SP1 didn't fix it.

 

plug_nickel

Edited June 3, 2011 by almccoyjr

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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It is a hoot indeed to push OFF to the limit with our 'Old Codger' systems, in particular since I'm an old codger myself. And I do the same as you Al, navigating by 'paper' map and the terrain, as well as ducking into a nearby cloud when it suits my advantage in a scrape. Gotta love it!

 

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